This disclosure concerns an invention relating generally to sports equipment, and more specifically to golfing equipment and golfing aids.
Golf ball markers are commonly used during a game of golf to mark the original location of a golf ball when the ball needs to be moved (for example, when a ball comes to rest against an obstruction which needs to be removed before play can resume, when the ball needs to be moved for cleaning, or to make way for another ball). As of 2002, the United States Golf Association (USGA) Rule 20-1 states that a golf ball to be moved should be marked by placing a xe2x80x9csmall coin or other similar objectxe2x80x9d immediately behind the ball prior to moving it, and when the ball is to be replaced, it should be situated in the same position from where it was lifted.
The xe2x80x9csmall coin or other objectxe2x80x9d rule is somewhat vague as to the allowable scope of objects that may be used as markers, and many golfers have found danger in straying too far from the explicit letter of the rule. For example, during tournaments or other events, some golfers who did not have coins or similar disc-shaped markers on hand have attempted to use hotel room keys or other objects as markersxe2x80x94only to be penalized one stroke by the judges for violation of a strict interpretation of the rule (or stricter tour or local rules). Thus, to serious golfers, the rule is not trivial.
As one might imagine, problems occasionally arise because golfers do not have suitable markers on hand during the game (i.e., the golfer is carrying no coins and has no other appropriate marker). As a consequence, other provisions of Rule 20-1 allow the ball position to be marked with the toe of a putter (which can be cumbersome because the player""s ability to handle the ball is limited if the player must simultaneously hold the putter in place), or by scratching the playing surface (which is disfavored owing to the difficulty in seeing a scratch and/or the possibility of damaging the playing surface), or using a leaf or other readily available item (which is disfavored owing to the possibility of the marker blowing away or otherwise being displaced).
Thus, a game of golf may literally be lost for lack of a nickel or other suitable marker. It would therefore be useful to have a means for reminding golfers of the need for a marker during play, and to maintain one or more markers on hand for convenient use.